5. REPROBATION

Statement—Comments
by Calvin, Luther, and Warfield—Proof from
Scripture—Based on
the Doctrine of Original Sin—No Injustice is Done to the
Non-Elect—State of
the Heathens—Purposes
of the Decree of Reprobation—Arminians
Center Attack on this Doctrine—Under
no Obligation to Explain all These Things.

The doctrine of absolute Predestination of course
logically holds that some are foreordained to death as truly as others are
foreordained to life. The very terms "elect" and "election" imply the terms
"non-elect" and "reprobation." When some are chosen out others are left not
chosen. The high privileges and glorious destiny of the former are not shared
with the latter. This, too, is of God. We believe that from all eternity God has
intended to leave some of Adam's posterity in their sins, and that the decisive
factor in the life of each is to be found only in God's will. As Mozley has
said, the whole race after the fall was "one mass of perdition," and "it pleased
God of His sovereign mercy to rescue some and to leave others where they were;
to raise some to glory, giving them such grace as necessarily qualified them for
it, and abandon the rest, from whom He withheld such grace, to eternal
punishments."5050 The Augustinian Doctrine of Predestination, p. 297.

The chief difficulty with the doctrine of Election of
course arises in regard to the unsaved; and the Scriptures have given us no
extended explanation of their state. Since the mission of Jesus in the world was
to save the world rather than to judge it, this side of the matter is less dwelt
upon.

In all of the Reformed creeds in which the doctrine of
Reprobation is dealt with at all it is treated as an essential part of the
doctrine of Predestination. The Westminster Confession, after stating the
doctrine of election, adds: "The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to
the inscrutable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth
mercy as He pleaseth, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures,
to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the
praise of His glorious justice."5151 Ch. III: Sec. 7

Those who hold the doctrine of Election but deny that of
Reprobation can lay but little claim to consistency. To affirm the former while
denying the latter makes the decree of predestination an illogical and lop-sided
decree. The creed which states the former but denies the latter will resemble a
wounded eagle attempting to fly with but one wing. In the interests of a "mild
Calvinism" some have been inclined to give up the doctrine of Reprobation, and
this term (in itself a very innocent term) has been the entering wedge for
harmful attacks upon Calvinism pure and simple. "Mild Calvinism" is synonymous
with sickly Calvinism, and sickness, if not cured, is the beginning of the
end.

Comments by Calvin, Luther, and Warfield

Calvin did not hesitate to base the reprobation of the
lost, as well as the election of the saved, on the eternal purpose of God. We
have already quoted him to the effect that "not all men are created with a
similar destiny but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation
for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these
ends, we say, he is predestinated either to life or to death." And again he
says, "There can be no election without its opposite, reprobation."5252 Institutes, Book III, Ch. 23.
That the latter raises problems which are not easy to solve, he readily admits,
but advocates it as the only intelligent and Scriptural explanation of the
facts.

Luther also as certainly as Calvin attributes the eternal
perdition of the wicked, as well as the eternal salvation of the righteous, to
the plan of God. "This mightily offends our rational nature," he says, "that God
should, of His own mere unbiased will, leave some men to themselves, harden them
and condemn them; but He gives abundant demonstration, and does continually,
that this is really the case; namely, that the sole cause why some are saved,
and others perish, proceeds from His willing the salvation of the former, and
the perdition of the latter, according to that of St. Paul, 'He hath mercy on
whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth."' And again, "It may
seem absurd to human wisdom that God should harden, blind, and deliver up some
men to a reprobate sense; that He should first deliver them over to evil, and
condemn them for that evil; but the believing, spiritual man sees no absurdity
at all in this; knowing that God would be never a whit less good, even though He
should destroy all men." He then goes on to say that this must not be understood
to mean that God finds men good, wise, obedient, and makes them evil, foolish,
and obdurate, but that they are already depraved and fallen and that those who
are not regenerated, instead of becoming better under the divine commands and
influences, only react to become worse. In reference to Romans IX, X, XI, Luther says that "all
things whatever arise from and depend upon the Divine appointment, whereby it
was preordained who should receive the word of life and who should disbelieve
it, who should be delivered from their sins and who should be hardened in them,
who should be justified and who condemned."5353 In Praefat, and Epist. ad Rom., quoted by Zanchius, Predestination, p. 92.

"The Biblical writers," says Dr. Warfield, "are as far as
possible from obscuring the doctrine of election because of any seemingly
unpleasant corollaries that flow from it. On the contrary, they expressly draw
the corollaries which have often been so designated, and make them a part of
their explicit teaching. Their doctrine of election, they are free to tell us,
for example, does certainly involve a corresponding doctrine of preterition.
The very term adopted
in the New Testament to express it—eklegomai, which, as Meyer justly
says (Ephesians 1:4),
'always has, and
must of logical necessity have, a reference to others to whom the chosen would, without the
ekloga, still
belong'—embodies a declaration of the fact that in their election
others are passed by and left without the gift of salvation; the whole
presentation of the doctrine is such as either to imply or openly to assert, on
its very emergence, the removal of the elect by the pure grace of God, not
merely from a state of condemnation, but out of the company of the condemned—a
company on whom the grace of God has no saving effect, and who are therefore
left without hope in their sins; and the positive just reprobation of the
impenitent for their sins is repeatedly explicitly taught in sharp contrast with
the gratuitous salvation of the elect despite their sins."5454 Biblical Doctrines, art., Predestination, p. 64.

And again he says: "The difficulty which is
felt by some in following the apostle's argument here (Romans 11 f), we may suspect, has its
roots in part in a shrinking from what appears to them an arbitrary assignment
of men to diverse destinies without consideration of their desert. Certainly St.
Paul as explicitly affirms the sovereignty of reprobation as election,—if
these twin ideas are, indeed, separable even in thought; if he represents God as
sovereignly loving Jacob, he represents Him equally as sovereignly hating Esau;
if he declares that He has mercy on whom He will, He equally declares that He
hardens whom He will. Doubtless the difficulty often felt here is, in part, an
outgrowth of an insufficient realization of St. Paul's basal conception of the
state of men at large as condemned sinners before an angry God. It is with a
world of lost sinners that he represents God as dealing; and out of that world
building up a Kingdom of Grace. Were not all men sinners, there might still be
an election, as sovereign as now; and there being an election, there would still
be as sovereign a rejection; but the rejection would not be a rejection to
punishment, to destruction, to eternal death, but to some other destiny
consonant to the state in which those passed by should be left. It is not
indeed, then, because men are sinners that men are left unelected; election is
free, and its obverse of rejection must be equally free; but it is solely
because men are sinners that what they are left to is destruction. And it is in
this universalism of ruin rather than in a universalism of salvation that St.
Paul really roots his theodicy. When all deserve death it is a marvel of pure
grace that any receive life; and who shall gainsay the right of Him who shows
this miraculous mercy, to have mercy on whom He will, and whom He will to
harden?"5555 Biblical Doctrines, p. 54.

Proof from Scripture

This is admittedly an unpleasant doctrine. It is not
taught to gain favor with men, but only because it is the plain teaching of the
Scriptures and the logical counterpart of the doctrine of Election. We shall
find that some Scripture passages do teach the doctrine with unmistakable
clearness. These should be sufficient for any one who accepts the Bible as the
word of God. "Jehovah hath made everything for its own end; Yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil," Proverbs 16:4. Christ is said to be to the
wicked, "A stone of stumbling, and a
rock of offence; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto also
they were appointed," 1 Peter 2:8. "For there are certain men crept in privily, even they who were
of old written of beforehand to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the
grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord,
Jesus Christ," Jude 4.
"But these, as creatures without reason, born mere animals to be taken and
destroyed, railing in matters whereof they are ignorant, shall in their
destroying surely be destroyed," 2 Peter
2:12. "For God did put in their heart to do His mind,
and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the
word of God should be accomplished," Revelation
17:17. Concerning the beast of St. John's vision it
is said, "All that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name
hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of
the lamb that hath been slain," Revelation
13:8. and we may contrast these with the disciples
whom Jesus told to rejoice because their names were written in heaven
(Luke 10:20), and with
Paul's fellow workers. "whose names are in the book of life," Philippians 4:3.

Paul declares that the "vessels of wrath" which by the
Lord were "fitted unto destruction," were "endured with much long suffering" in
order that He might "show His wrath, and make His power known"; and with these
are contrasted the "vessels of mercy, which He afore prepared unto glory" in
order "that He might make known the riches of His glory" upon them (Romans 9:22, 23). Concerning the
heathen it is said that "God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those
things which are not fitting," Romans
1:28; and the wicked, "after his hardness and
impenitent heart treasures up for himself wrath in the day of wrath and
revelation of the righteous judgment of God," Romans
2:5.

In regard to those who perish Paul says, "God sendeth
them a working of error, that they should believe a lie," 2 Thessalonians 2:11. They are called
upon to behold these things in an external way, to wonder at them, and to go on
perishing in their sins. Hear the words of Paul in the synagogue at Antioch in
Pisidia: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; For I work a work in
your days, A work which ye shall in no wise believe, if one declare it unto
you," Acts 13:41.

The apostle John, after narrating that the people still
disbelieved although Jesus had done so many signs before them, adds, "For this
cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their
eyes, and He hardened their heart; Lest they should see with their eyes, and
perceive with their heart, And should turn, And I should heal them,"
John 12:39, 40.

Christ's command to the wicked in the final judgment,
"Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the
Devil and his angels," Matthew 25:41, is the strongest possible decree of
reprobation; and it is the
same in principle whether issued in time or eternity. What is right for God to
do in time it is not wrong for Him to include in His eternal plan.

On one occasion Jesus Himself declared: "For judgment
came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see
may become blind," John 9:39. On another occasion He said, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and
understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes," Matthew 11:25. It Is hard for us to
realize that the adorable Redeemer and only Savior of men is, to some, a stone
of stumbling and a rock of offence; yet that is what the Scriptures declare Him
to be. Even before His birth it was said that He was set (that is, appointed)
for the falling, as well as for the rising, of many in Israel (Luke 2:34). And when, in His
intercessory prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, He said, "I pray for them; I
pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me," the non-elect
were repudiated in so many words.

Jesus Himself declared that one of the reasons why He
spoke in parables was that the truth might be concealed from those for whom it
was not intended. We shall let the sacred history speak for itself: "And the
disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And
He answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him
shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him
shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I unto them in
parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do
they understand. And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which
saith,

In these words we have an application of Jesus' words,
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before
swine," Matthew 7:6. He
who affirms that Christ designed to give His saving truth to every one flatly
contradicts Christ Himself. To the non-elect, the Bible is a sealed book; and
only to the true Christian is it "given" to see and understand these things. So
important is this truth that the Holy Spirit has been pleased to repeat six
times over in the New Testament this passage from Isaiah (Matthew 13:14, 15;
Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:27;
Romans 11:9, 10). Paul tells us that through grace
the "election" received salvation, and that the rest were hardened; then he
adds, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears
that they should not hear." And further, he quotes the words of David to the
same effect:

Hence as regards some, the evangelical proclamations were
designed to harden, and not to heal.

This same doctrine finds expression in numerous other
parts of Scripture. Moses said to the children of Israel, "But Sihon king of
Heshbon would not let you pass by him; for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit,
and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as at
this day," Deuteronomy 2:30. In regard to the Canaanitish tribes who came against Joshua it
is written, "For it was of Jehovah to harden their hearts, to come against
Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, as Jehovah commanded
Moses." Joshua 11:20.
Hophni and Phinebas, the sons of Eli, when reproved for their wickedness,
"hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because Jehovah was minded to
slay them," 1 Samuel 2:25.
Though Pharaoh acted very arrogantly and wickedly toward the Israelites, Paul
assigns no other reason than that he was one of the reprobate whose evil actions
were to be overruled for good: "For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this
very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that
my name might be published abroad in all the earth," Romans 9:17 (see also Exodus 9:16). In all the reprobate
there is a blindness and an obstinate hardness of heart; and when any, like
Pharaoh, are said to have been hardened of God we may be sure that they were
already in themselves worthy of being delivered over to Satan. The hearts of the
wicked are, of course, never hardened by the direct influence of God,—He simply permits some men to follow out the evil impulses which are already in
their hearts, so that, as a result of their own choices, they become more and
more calloused and obstinate. And while it is said, for instance, that God
hardened the heart of Pharaoh, it is also said that Pharaoh hardened his own
heart (Exodus 8:15; 8:32; 9:34). One description is given from the divine view-point, the other
is given from the human view-point. God is ultimately responsible for the
hardening of the heart in that He permits it to occur, and the inspired writer
in graphic language simply says that God does it; but never are we to understand
that God is the immediate and efficient cause.

Although this doctrine is harsh, it is, nevertheless,
Scriptural. And since it is so plainly taught in Scripture, we can assign no
reason for the opposition which it has met other than the pure ignorance and
unreasoned prejudice with which men's minds have been filled when they come to
study it. How applicable here are the words of Rice:—"Happily
would it be for the Church of Christ and for the world, if Christian ministers
and Christian people could be contented to be disciples,—LEARNERS;
if, conscious of their limited faculties, their ignorance of divine things, and
their proneness to err through depravity and prejudice, they could be induced to
sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him. The Church has been corrupted and
cursed in almost every age by the undue confidence of men in their reasoning
powers. They have undertaken to pronounce upon the reasonableness or
unreasonableness of doctrines infinitely above their reason, which are
necessarily matters of pure revelation. In their presumption they have sought to
comprehend 'the deep things of God,' and have interpreted the Scriptures, not
according to their obvious meaning, but according to the decisions of the finite
reason." And again he says, "No one ever studied the works of Nature or the Book
of Revelation without finding himself encompassed on every side by difficulties
he could not solve. The philosopher is obliged to be satisfied with facts; and
the theologian must content himself with God's declarations."5656 Rice, God Sovereign and Man Free, pp. 3, 4.

Strange to say, many of those who insist that when people
come to study the doctrine of the Trinity they should put aside all preconceived
notions and should not rely simply upon the unaided human reason to decide what
can or cannot be true of God, and who insist that the Scriptures should be
accepted here as the unquestioned and authoritative guide, are not willing to
follow those rules in the study of the doctrine of Predestination.

The Doctrine of Reprobation is
Based on the Doctrine of Original Sin; No Injustice is Done to the
Non-elect

It Is obvious that this part of the doctrine of
Predestination which affirms that God has, by a sovereign and eternal decree,
chosen one portion of mankind to salvation while leaving the other portion to
destruction, strikes us at first as being opposed to our common ideas of justice
and hence needs a defence. The defence of the doctrine of Reprobation rests upon
the preceding doctrine of Original Sin or Total Inability. This decree finds the
whole race fallen. None have any claim on God's grace. But instead of leaving
all to their just punishment, God gratuitously confers undeserved happiness upon
one portion of mankind,—an act of pure mercy and grace to which no
one can object,—while the other portion is simply passed by. No
undeserved misery is inflicted upon this latter group. Hence no one has any
right to object to this part of the decree. If the decree dealt simply with
innocent men, it would be unjust to assign one portion to condemnation; but
since it deals with men in a particular state, which is a state of guilt and
sin, it is not unjust. "The conception of the world as lying in the evil one and
therefore judged already (John 8:18), so that upon those who are not removed from the evil of the
world the wrath of God is not so much to be poured out but simply abides
(John 3:36, cf.
1 John 3:14), is
fundamental to this whole presentation. It is therefore, on the one hand, that
Jesus represents Himself as having come not to condemn the world, but to save
the world (John 8:17; 8:12; 9:5; 12:47; cf. 4:42),
and all that He does as having for its end the introduction of life into the
world (John 6:33, 51) ;
the already condemned world needs no further condemnation, it needs
saving."5757 Warfield, Biblical Doctrine, p. 35.

Guilty man has lost his rights and falls under the will
of God. God's absolute sovereignty now comes in and when He shows mercy in some
cases we cannot object to His justice in others unless we would call in question
His government of the universe. Viewed in this light the decree of
Predestination finds mankind one mass of perdition and allows only a portion of
it to remain such. When all antecedently deserved punishment it was not unjust
for some to be antecedently consigned to it; otherwise the execution of a just
sentence would be unjust.

"When the Arminian says that faith and works constitute
the ground of election we dissent," says Clark. "But if he says that
foreseen unbelief and disobedience constitute the ground of reprobation we assent readily enough. A
man is not saved on the ground of his virtues but he is condemned on the ground
of his sin. As strict Calvinists we insist that while some men are saved
from their unbelief
and disobedience, in which all are involved, and others are not, it is still the
sinner's sinfulness that constitutes the ground of his reprobation. Election and
reprobation proceed on different grounds; one the grace of God, the other the
sin of man. It is a travesty on Calvinism to say that because God elects to save
a man irrespective of his character or deserts, that therefore He elects to damn
a man irrespective of his character or deserts."5858 A syllabus of Systematic Theology, pp. 219, 220.

This reprobation or passing by of the non-elect is not
founded merely upon a foresight of their continuance in sin; for if that had
been a proper cause, reprobation would have been the fate of all men, for all
were foreseen as sinners. Nor can it be said that those who were passed by were
in all cases worse sinners than those who were brought to eternal life. The
Scriptures always ascribe faith and repentance to the good pleasure of God and
to the special gracious operation of His Spirit. Those who conceive of mankind
as innocent and deserving of salvation are naturally scandalized when any
portion of the race is antecendently consigned to punishment. But when the
doctrine of Original Sin, which is taught so clearly and repeatedly in the
Scriptures, is seen in its proper setting, the objections to predestination
disappear and the condemnation of the wicked seems only just and natural. Thus
salvation is of the Lord alone, and damnation wholly from ourselves. Men perish
because they will not come to Christ; yet if they have a will to come, it is God
who works the will in them. Grace, electing grace, both draws the will and keeps
it steady; and to grace be all the praise.

Furthermore, out of a world of sinful and rebellious
subjects, none of whom were in themselves worthy of saving, God has graciously
chosen some when he might have passed by all as He did the fallen angels
(2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). He
has taken it altogether upon Himself to provide the redemption through which His
people are saved. The atonement, therefore, is His own property; and He
certainly may, as He most assuredly will, do what He pleases with His own. Grace
is given to one and withheld from another as He sees best. It is to be noticed
also that the withholding of His grace from the non-elect is but the negative
cause of their perishing, just as the absence of a physician from the sick man
is the occasion, not the efficient cause, of his death. "In the sight of an
infinitely good and merciful God," says Dr. Charles Hodge, "it was necessary
that some of the rebellious race of man should suffer the penalty of the law
which all have broken. It is God's prerogative to determine who shall be vessels
of mercy, and who shall be left to the just recompense of their sins."5959 Systematic Theology, II, p. 652.

Since man has brought himself into this state of sin, his
condemnation is just, and every demand of justice would be met in his
punishment. Conscience tells us that man perishes justly, since he chooses to
follow Satan rather than God. "Ye will
not come to me, that ye may have life," said
Jesus (John 5:40). And in
this connection the words of Prof. F. E. Hamilton are very appropriate: "All God
does is to let him (the unregenerate) alone and allow him to go his own way
without interference. It is his nature to be evil, and God simply has
foreordained to leave that nature unchanged. The picture often painted by
opponents of Calvinism, of a cruel God refusing to save those who long to be
saved, is a gross caricature. God saves all who want to be saved, but no one
whose nature is unchanged wants to be saved." Those who are lost are lost
because they deliberately choose to walk in the ways of sin; and this will be
the very hell of hells, that men have been self destroyers.

Many people talk as if salvation were a matter of human
birthright. And, forgetful of the fact that man had and lost his supremely
favorable chance in Adam, they inform us that God would be unjust if He did not
give all guilty creatures an opportunity to be saved. In regard to the idea that
salvation is given in return for something done by the person, Luther says, "But
let us, I pray you, suppose that God ought to be such a one, who should have
respect unto merit in those who are damned. Must we not, in like
manner, also require and grant that He ought to have respect unto merit in those
who are to be saved? For if we are to follow reason, it is equally unjust, that the
undeserving should be crowned, as that the deserving should be damned."6060 Bondage of the Will, p. 252.

No one with proper ideas of God supposes that He suddenly
does something which He had not thought of before. Since His is an eternal
purpose, what He does in time is what He purposed from eternity to do. Those
whom He saves are those whom He purposed from eternity to save, and those whom
He leaves to perish are those whom He purposed from eternity to leave. If it is
just for God to do a certain thing in time, it is, by parity of argument, just
for Him to resolve upon and decree it from eternity, for the principle of the
action is the same in either case. And if we are justified in saying that from
all eternity God has intended to display His mercy in pardoning a vast multitude
of sinners why do some people object so strenuously when we say that from all
eternity God has intended to display His justice in punishing other
sinners?

Hence if it is just for God to forbear saving
some persons after they are born, it was just for Him to form that purpose
before they were born, or in eternity. And since the determining will of God is
omnipotent, it cannot be obstructed or made void. This being true, it follows
that He never did, nor does He now, will that every individual of mankind should
be saved. If He willed this, not one single soul could ever be lost, "for who
hath resisted His will?" If He willed that none should be lost, He would surely
give to all men those effectual means of salvation without which it cannot be
had. Now, God could give those means as easily to all mankind as to some only,
but experience proves that He does not. Hence it logically follows that it is
not His secret purpose or decretive will that all should be saved. In fact, the
two truths, that what God does He does from eternity, and that only a portion of
the human race is saved, is enough to complete the doctrines of Election and
Reprobation.

State of the Heathens

The fact that, in the providential working of God, some
men are left without the Gospel and the other means of grace virtually involves
the principle set forth in the Calvinistic doctrine of Predestination. We see
that in all ages the greater portion of mankind has been left destitute even of
the external means of grace. For centuries the Jews, who were very few in
number, were the only people to whom God was pleased to make any special
revelation of Himself. Jesus confined His public ministry almost exclusively to
them and forbade his disciples to go among others until after the day of
Pentecost (Matthew 10:5, 6; 28:19; Mark 16:15; Acts
1:4). Multitudes were left with no chance to hear the
Gospel, and consequently died in their sins. If God had intended to save them
undoubtedly he would have sent them the means of salvation. If he had chosen to
Christianize India and China a thousand years ago, He most certainly could have
accomplished His purpose. Instead, they were left in gross darkness and
unbelief. The past and present state of the world with all its sin, misery, and
death, can have no other explanation than that given in Scripture,—namely,
that the race fell in Adam and that in mercy God has sovereignly chosen to bring
an innumerable multitude to salvation through a redemption which He has Himself
provided. It is a perverted and dishonoring view of God to imagine Him
struggling along with disobedient men, doing the best He can to convert them,
but not able to accomplish His purpose.

If the Arminian theory were true, namely, that Christ
died for all men and that the benefits of His death are actually applied to all
men we would expect to find that God had made some provision for the Gospel to
be communicated to all men. The problem of the heathens, who live and die
without the Gospel, has always been a thorny one for the Arminians who insist
that all men have sufficient grace if they will but make use of it. Few will
deny that salvation is conditioned on the person hearing and accepting the
Gospel. The Christian Church has been practically of one mind in declaring that
the heathens as a class are lost. That such is the clear teaching of the Bible
we can easily show:—

"And in none other is there salvation; for neither is
there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be
saved," Acts 4:12. "As
many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law: and as
many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law," Romans 2:12. "Other foundation can no
man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ," 1 Corinthians 3:11. "I am the vine, ye
are the branches; apart from me ye can do nothing," John 15:5. "I am the way, and the
truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me," John 14:6. "He that believeth on the
Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but
the wrath of God abideth on him," John
3:36. "He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath
not the Son of God hath not the life," 1 John
5:12, "And this is eternal life, that they should
know thee the only true God, and Him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ,"
John 17:3. "Without faith
it is Impossible to be well-pleasing to God," Hebrews
11: 6. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? and how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? and how
shall they hear without a preacher?" Romans 10:13,
14 (or, in other words, how can the heathens possibly
be saved when they have never even heard of Christ who is the only means of
salvation ?). "Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have not life
in yourselves," John 6:53.
When the watchman sees danger coming but does not give the people warning they
perish in their iniquity, Ezekiel 33:8,—true, the watchman will be held responsible, yet that
does not change the fate of the people. Jesus declared that even the Samaritans
who had far higher privileges than the nations outside of Palestine, worshipped
they knew not what, and that salvation was of the Jews. See also the first and
second chapters of Romans. The Scriptures, then, are plain in declaring that
under ordinary conditions those who have not Christ and the Gospel are
lost.

And in accordance with this the Westminster Confession,
after stating that those who reject Christ cannot be saved, adds: "Much less can
men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way
whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the
light of nature, and the law of that religion they do profess . . ."
(X:4).

In fact the belief that the heathens without the Gospel
are lost has been one of the strongest arguments in favor of foreign missions.
If we believe that their own religions contain enough light and truth to save
them, the importance of preaching the Gospel to them is greatly lessened. Our
attitude toward foreign missions is determined pretty largely by the answer
which we give to this question.

We do not deny that God can save some even of the adult
heathen people if He chooses to do so, for His Spirit works when and where and
how He pleases, with means or without means. If any such are saved, however, it
is by a miracle of pure grace. Certainly God's ordinary method is to gather His
elect from the evangelized portion of mankind, although we must admit the
possibility that by an extraordinary method some few of His elect may be
gathered from the unevangelized portion. (The fate of those who die in infancy
in heathen lands will be discussed under the subject, "Infant
Salvation.")

It is unreasonable to suppose that people can appropriate
to themselves something concerning which they know nothing. We readily see that
so far as the pleasures and joys and opportunities in this world are concerned
the heathens are largely passed by; and on the same principle we would expect
them to be passed by in the next world also. Those who are providentially placed
in the pagan darkness of western China can no more accept Christ as Savior than
they can accept the radio, the airplane, or the Copernican system of astronomy,
things concerning which they are totally ignorant. When God places people in
such conditions we may be sure that He has no more intention that they shall be
saved than He has that the soil of northern Siberia, which is frozen all the
year round, shall produce crops of wheat. Had he intended otherwise He would
have supplied the means leading to the designed end. There are also multitudes
in the nominally Christian lands to whom the Gospel has never been presented in
any adequate way, who have not even the outward means of salvation, to say
nothing of the helpless state of their heart.

This, of course, does not mean that all of the lost shall
suffer the same degree of punishment. We believe that from a common zero point
there will be all degrees of reward and all degrees of punishment, and that a
person's reward or punishment will, to a certain extent, be based on the
opportunity that he has had in this world. Jesus Himself declared that in the
day of judgment it would be more tolerable for the heathen city of Sodom than
for those cities of Palestine which had heard and rejected His message
(Luke 10:12-14); and He
closed the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants with the words: "And
that servant, who knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to
his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he that knew not, and did
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever
much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom they commit much, of
him will they ask the more," Luke 12:47,
48. So while the heathens are lost, they shall suffer
relatively less than those who have heard and rejected the Gospel.

Hence in regard to this problem of the heathen races,
Arminians are, at the very outset, involved in difficulties which subvert their
whole scheme, difficulties from which they have never been able to extricate
themselves. They admit that only in Christ is there salvation; yet they see that
multitudes die without ever having heard of Christ or the Gospel. Holding that
sufficient grace or opportunity must be given to every man before he can be
condemned, many of them have been led to postulate a future probation,—this
however is not only without Scripture support, but is contrary to
Scripture. As Cunningham says, "Calvinists have always regarded it as a strong
argument against the Arminian doctrines of universal grace and universal
redemption, and in favor of their own views of the sovereign purposes of God,
that, in point of fact, so large a portion of the human race have been always
left in entire ignorance of God's mercy, and of the way of salvation revealed in
the Gospel; nay, in such circumstances as, to all appearances, throw insuperable
obstacles in the way of their attaining to that knowledge of God and of Jesus
Christ, which is eternal life."6161 Historical Theology, II, p. 397.

Only in Calvinism, with its doctrine of the
guilt and corruption of all mankind through the fall, and its doctrine of grace
through which some are sovereignly rescued and brought to salvation while others
are passed by, do we find an adequate explanation of the phenomenon of the
heathen world.

Purposes of the Decree of Reprobation

The condemnation of the non-elect is designed primarily
to furnish an eternal exhibition, before men and angels, of God's hatred for
sin, or, in other words, it is to be an eternal manifestation of the justice of
God. (Let it be remembered that God's justice as certainly demands the
punishment of sin as it demands the rewarding of righteousness.) This decree
displays one of the divine attributes which apart from it could never have been
adequately appreciated. The salvation of some through a redeemer is designed to
display the attributes of love, mercy, and holiness. The attributes of wisdom,
power and sovereignty are displayed in the treatment accorded both groups. Hence
the truth of the Scripture statement that, "Jehovah hath made everything for its
own end; Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil," Proverbs 16:4; and also the statement
of Paul that this arrangement was intended on the one hand, to "make known the
riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He afore prepared unto glory,"
and on the other, "to show His wrath, and to make His power known" upon "vessels
of wrath fitted unto destruction," Romans 9:22,
23.

This decree of reprobation also serves
subordinate purposes in regard to the elect; for, in beholding the rejection and
final state of the wicked, (1) they learn what they too would have suffered had
not grace stepped in to their relief, and they appreciate more deeply the riches
of divine love which raised them from sin and brought them into eternal life
while others no more guilty or unworthy than they were left to eternal
destruction. (2) It furnishes a most powerful motive for thankfulness that they have
received such high blessings. (3) They are led to a deeper trust of their heavenly Father who
supplies all their needs in this life and the next. (4) The sense of what they
have received furnishes the strongest possible motive for them to love their
heavenly Father, and to live as pure lives as possible. (5) It leads them to a greater
abhorrence of sin. (6) It leads them to a closer walk with God and with each
other as specially chosen heirs of the kingdom of heaven. (7) In regard to the
sovereign rejection of the Jews, Paul destroys at the source any accusation that
they were cast off without reason. "Did they stumble that they might fall? God
forbid: for by their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to
jealousy," Romans 11:11.
Thus we see that God's rejection of the Jews was for a very wise and definite
purpose; namely, that salvation might be given to the Gentiles, and that in such
a way that it would react for the salvation of the Jews themselves. Historically
we see that the Christian Church has been almost exclusively a Gentile Church.
But in every age some Jews have been converted to Christianity, and we believe
that as time goes on much larger numbers will be "provoked to jealousy" and
caused to turn to God. Several verses in the eleventh chapter of Romans indicate
that considerable numbers are to be converted and that they will be extremely
zealous for righteousness.

Arminians Center Attack on This Doctrine

This doctrine of Reprobation is one upon which the
Arminians are very fond of dwelling. They often single it out and emphasize it
as though it was the sum and substance of Calvinism, while the other doctrines
such as the Sovereignty of God, the purely gracious character of Election, the
Perseverance of the saints, etc., which give so much glory to God, are passed by
with little or no comment. At the Synod of Dort the Arminians insisted on first
discussing the subject of Reprobation, and complained of it as a great hardship
when the Synod refused to concede this. To the present day they have generally
pursued this same policy. Their object is plain, for they know that it is easy
to misrepresent this doctrine and to set it forth in a light that will prejudice
men's feelings against it. They often distort the views which are held by
Calvinists, then after alleging all that they can against it, they argue that
since there can be no such thing as Reprobation, neither can there be any such
thing as Election. The unfair over-emphasis on this doctrine indicates anything
but an unprejudiced and sincere search for truth. Let them turn rather to the
positive side of the system; let them answer and dispose of the large amount of
evidence which has been collected in favor of this system.

On the other hand Calvinists usually produce
first the evidence in favor of the doctrine of Election and then, having
established this, they show that what they hold concerning the doctrine of
Reprobation naturally follows. They do not, indeed, regard the latter as wholly
dependent on the former for its proof. They believe that it is sustained by
independent Scripture proof ; yet they do believe that if what they hold
concerning the doctrine of Election is proven true, then what they hold
concerning the doctrine of Reprobation will follow of logical necessity. Since
the Scriptures give us much fuller information about what God does in producing
faith and repentance in those who are saved than they give us in regard to His
procedure with those who continue in impenitence and unbelief, reason demands
that we shall first investigate the doctrine of Election, and then consider the
doctrine of Reprobation. This last consideration shows the utter unfairness of
Arminians in giving such prominence to the doctrine of Reprobation. As has been
said before, this is admittedly an unpleasant doctrine. Calvinists do not shrink
from discussing it; yet naturally, because of its awful character, they find no
satisfaction in dwelling upon it. They also realize that here men must be
particularly careful not to attempt to be wise above what is written, as many
are inclined to do when they indulge in presumptuous speculations about matters
which are too high for them.

Under No Obligation to Explain All These Things

Let it be remembered that we are under no obligation to
explain all the mysteries connected with these doctrines. We are only under
obligation to set forth what the Scriptures teach concerning them, and to
vindicate this teaching so far as possible from the objections which are alleged
against it. The "yea, Father, for so it was well pleasing in thy sight,"
(Matthew 11:26; Luke 10:21, was, to our Lord, an all-sufficient theodicy in the face of all
God's diverse dealings with men. The sufficient and only answer which Paul gives
to vain reasoners who would penetrate more deeply into these mysteries is that
they are to be resolved into the divine wisdom and sovereignty. The words of
Toplady are especially appropriate here: "Say not, therefore, as the opposers of
these doctrines did in St. Paul's days: 'Why doth God find fault with the
wicked? for who bath resisted His will? If He, who only can convert them,
refrains from doing it, what room is there for blaming them that perish, seeing
it is impossible to resist the will of the Almighty?' Be satisfied with St.
Paul's answer, 'Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?' The
apostle hinges the whole matter entirely on God's absolute sovereignty. There he
rests it, and there we ought to leave it."6262 Zanchius', Predestination, Introduction, p. 19.

Man cannot measure the justice of God by his own
comprehension, and our modesty should be such that when the reason for some of
God's works lies hidden we nevertheless believe Him to be just. If any one
thinks that this doctrine represents God as unjust, it is only because he does
not realize what the Scripture doctrine of Original Sin is, nor to what it
commits him. Let him fix his mind upon the existence of real ill-desert
antecedent to actual sin, and the condemnation will appear just and natural. The
first step mastered, the second presents no real difficulty.

It is hard for us to realize that many of those right
around us (in some cases our close friends and relatives) are probably
foreordained to eternal punishment; and so far as we do realize it we are
inclined to have a certain sympathy for them. Yet when seen in the light of
eternity our sympathy for the lost will be found to have been an undeserved and
a misplaced sympathy. Those who are finally lost shall then be seen as they
really are, enemies of God, enemies of all righteousness, and lovers of sin,
with no desire for salvation or the presence of the Lord. We may add further
that, since God is perfectly just, none shall be sent to hell except those who
deserve to go there; and when we see their real characters we shall be fully
satisfied with the disposition that God has made.

As a matter of fact the Arminians do not escape any real
difficulty here. For since they admit that God has foreknowledge of all things
they must explain why He creates those who He foresees will lead sinful lives,
reject the Gospel, die impenitent, and suffer eternally in hell. The Arminians
really have a more difficult problem here than do the Calvinists; for the
Calvinists maintain that the ones whom God thus creates, knowing that they will
be lost, are the non-elect who voluntarily choose sin and in whose merited
punishment God designs to manifest His justice, while the Arminians must say
that God deliberately creates those who He foresees will be such poor, miserable
creatures that without serving any good purpose they will bring destruction upon
themselves and will spend eternity in hell in spite of the fact that God Himself
earnestly wishes to bring them to heaven, and that God shall be forever grieved
in seeing them where He wishes they were not. Does not this represent God as
acting most foolishly in bringing upon Himself such dissatisfaction and upon
some of His creatures such misery when He could at least have refrained from
creating those who, He foresaw, would be lost?

Perhaps there are some who, upon hearing of this doctrine
of Predestination, will account themselves reprobate and will be inclined to go
into further sin with the excuse that they are to be damned anyway. But to do so
is to suck poison out of a sweet flower, to dash one's self against the Rock of
Ages. No one has the right to judge himself reprobate in this life, and hence to
grow desperate; for final disobedience (the only infallible sign of reprobation)
cannot be discovered until death. No unconverted person in this life knows for
certain that God will not yet convert him and save him, even though he is aware
that no such change has yet taken place. Hence be has no right to number himself
definitely among the non-elect. God has not told us who among the unconverted He
yet proposes to regenerate and save. If any man feels the pangs of conscience
working in him, these may be the very means which God is using to draw
him.

We have given considerable space to the discussion of the
doctrine of Reprobation because it has been the great stumbling block for most
of those who have rejected the Calvinistic system. We believe that if this
doctrine can be shown to be Scriptural and reasonable the other parts of the
system will be readily accepted.